Russia defends presence of its military advisers in Syria: NYT

The Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that Russian military advisers were in Syria, but it said that their presence was part of a longstanding agreement to provide military aid to the country, according to The New York Times.

“Russian military specialists help Syrians master Russian hardware, and we can’t understand the anti-Russian hysteria about this,” said Maria V. Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, adding that Russia had never made a secret of its cooperation with Syria over military technology.

“We have been supplying Syria with arms and military equipment for a long time,” she said. “We are doing this in accordance with existing contracts and in full accordance with international law.”

REUTERS

“If we need to take further measures to intensify counterterrorism efforts, these issues will no doubt be examined further, but solely on the basis of international law and the Russian legislation,” Ms. Zakharova said.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria has blocked its airspace for Russian aircraft heading to Syria, at the U.S. request. Russia has said that the flights are carrying humanitarian aid, and it has criticized the U.S. move to try to block them.

“After Russia helped hammer out a deal over Iran’s nuclear program, the Syrian issue was seen as another way for Moscow to show that it could be a useful international partner and should not be subject to international sanctions over its role in the Ukraine conflict,” the author says.

“Maybe it is that with Mr. Assad in control of just a quarter of the country, Moscow could be trying to either shore him up or protect its longstanding alliance there if his government collapses. There has long been speculation that if the government in Damascus crumples, its core, members of the Alawite religious minority, would try to create a smaller state in its heartland along the coast,” the article reads.

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